Shloka 24
कर्णस्य दानप्रतिज्ञा–शल्योपदेश–वाक्ययुद्धम्
Karna’s Gift-Vows, Shalya’s Counsel, and the Battle of Words
पदातीनां तु सहसा प्रद्गुतानां महाहवे । उत्सृज्याभरणं तूर्णमवप्लुत्य रणाजिरे,पैदल सैनिक युद्धस्थलमें अपने आभूषण त्यागकर तुरंत उछल-उछलकर बड़े वेगसे भागने लगे। उस समय सहसा भागते हुए उन पैदलोंके उन विचित्र आभूषणोंको अपने ऊपर प्रहार होनेमें निमित्त मानकर हाथी उन्हें सूँड़से उठा लेते और फिर दाँतोंसे दबाकर फोड़ डालते थे
sañjaya uvāca | padātīnāṃ tu sahasā pradrutānāṃ mahāhave | utsṛjyābharaṇaṃ tūrṇam avaplutya raṇājire |
Sañjaya said: In that great battle, the foot-soldiers suddenly broke into flight. Casting off their ornaments, they leapt about and rushed away across the field. Those strange ornaments, abandoned in panic, became a cause of further harm: the elephants, taking them as occasions for striking, would lift the fleeing men with their trunks and then crush and shatter them between their tusks—showing how fear and disorder in war turn even one’s own possessions into instruments of ruin.
संजय उवाच